To Stand Alone
by Arayelle Lynn
Summary: Animeverse. The revelation of Kyou’s true form has tested their relationship. But the appearance of a fourth person will teach them the true meaning of friendship and love. Kyoru? Yukiru? TohruOC? YukiOC? KyouOC? Let’s decide the pairings together!
1. The New Boy

**DISCLAIMER:** Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya, which is too bad since I couldn't make money with it .

**TIMELINE:** AU. This is strictly anime-verse. All events that took place in this story are right after the end of episode 26 of Fruits Basket. I'm going to disregard whatever happens in the manga since I have yet to complete my collection. Which means, the only Zodiac members Tohru have met would be Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, Hatori, Momiji, Haru, Kisa, Hiro, Kagura, Ayame, Ritsu. Rin and Kureno have not yet met her acquaintance.

**NOTE:** This is the first of my "Yoshimi no Nagano – Eternal Friendship" series (I don't know Japanese so I hope I'm getting it right) Right now, I'm concentrating on the friendship between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo so it's safe to say that she has not made any decision yet. Since I love experimenting with Original Characters, so yes, this story will contain OCs. Enjoy!

**TO STAND ALONE I: THE NEW BOY **

By Arayelle Lynn.

"Baka neko."

"Kuso nezumi."

Tohru sighed, as she and the two Sohmas made their way to school. The two were at it again, though in truth, she was not going to complain. In fact, she welcomed it almost full-heartedly. She missed all the bickering so much.

"It's your fault that the door broke. Again."

"You're the one who kicked me."

"Who told you to yell your lungs out early in the morning?"

"You were going to sit on me!"

"You could've move away, baka!"

"Why couldn't you sleepwalk, say, to the nearest cliff?"

"Go drown yourself."

The fight continued, with Tohru walking in the middle of the trio, acting as the unofficial referee. She tucked her soft brown hair behind her ears, all the while smiling as she listened to them bickering. Her heart was at peace, pushing away the bad memory that only happened recently.

Nearly a week ago, after Kyo's true form was revealed, things between the three of them had gotten from bad to worse. For days, the three of them had barely said a word to each other, each lost in their own thoughts of what happened that night. And Tohru had to shamefully admit that, she had been avoiding Kyo and Yuki for the first two days and they both had happily given her the space she needed.

It was only until after the visit to the Sohma's main house, had things finally improved. Tohru still could not forget the look of open longing in Kyo's eyes as he watched them entering Akito's house or the look of sudden bravado on Yuki's face as he unwittingly held onto Akito when the head of the Sohma family attacked her. In the end, they all left Akito clearly flustered by the unexpected turn of events and the minute she, Yuki and Shigure stepped out of the house, the two boys had started arguing again. From that onwards, it was a little awkward but the three of them had managed to look past the changes and lived as they had always lived… together.

The battle of the rat and cat slowed to a stop as they were nearing the school compound. Tohru watched as Yuki straightened himself, appearing calm and compose, befitting his status as class representative. Kyo purposefully looked away, feigning ignorance as he put on his 'I-am-a-rebel-so-don't-mess-with-me' mask to ward off his admirers.

However, only until after they arrived at the classroom, did they notice that the world around them had changed as well. The minute Kyo opened the door, they were presented with a sight of their classmates, huddling together at the front end of the classroom, eyeing suspiciously at a male student sitting alone at the back.

"A new student?" he heard Yuki say, surprised.

"Oi, you guys!" one of their friends waved them over. Seeing Uo and Hana among them, Tohru, Yuki and Kyo joined the group. "What's going on?" Yuki asked them. "Isn't it a little too late in the semester to be receiving new students?"

"He's not new," Uo answered. "He's from the next class, 2-E." She then bent closely to them, conspiringly. "Rumor has it that he was transferred to our class because he hit a female student from his old class."

"Right, right," Yoshio, one of their classmates, confirmed. "The girl's parents were so displeased, they demanded that the school expel him but the principle just transferred him to our class." He then sighed, sulkily. "What a bummer! He's going to cause more trouble than he's worth." The other students nodded, supporting his statement.

"I heard he has a criminal record!" a student declared.

"I heard he killed someone." Another student declared.

"What?" the girls cried, holding onto each other.

"Which is why," Uo turned to Yuki and Kyo. "I hope we can cooperate to protect Tohru. A girl like her can easily be taken an advantage of." She waited until the two boys nodded in agreement before continuing. "And Tohru, you need to stay away from…" she broke off, seeing that Tohru was no longer with them. Scanning the room, she discovered to her horror that Tohru was walking up to the boy in question.

Tohru stared down at the new student. He did not appear as harmful as her friends had described. In fact, up close, he seemed small and fragile. He had his head bent down, staring at his bony hands on the table. His jagged, unkempt light brown hair was long enough that it covered the sides of his face and his eyes. His crumpled and worn out black uniform hung loosely on his skinny, pale frame. His posture was stiff and rigid, as if aware of what was being said about him.

Unable to contain herself, Tohru bowed. "Welcome to our class. My name is Honda Tohru. Call me Tohru. I hope we can be friends," she said, smiling sweetly at the startled boy. Tohru delightfully noticed that he had a beautiful pair of emerald green eyes.

Then a hand was thrust towards him. Tohru turned to see Yuki, smiling welcomingly at their new classmate. "I'm Yuki Sohma, the class representative. If you need anything, just find me," he said, welcoming him just as easily as Tohru. Like her, he was not going to listen to rumors unless proven.

The boy pointedly stared at Yuki's outstretched hand, and then eyed both Tohru and Yuki. Ignoring the offer of friendship, he returned his gaze at the table. "Beat it," he said, off-handedly dismissing them like insignificant bugs. Both female and male students gasped at the rude treatment of their beloved class representative as Kyo bristled at the way the new student dismissed Tohru's nice intentions. Forgetting to count to 10, Kyo stormed to the back of the classroom and slammed his fists on the table.

"Of all the rotten… she was just being nice, you know. You could've at least say thank you," Kyo growled, ready to jump on the boy. "I don't know why she did it but let me tell you this… you don't deserve to even breathe the same air as her."

The boy looked up, his face impassive as he regarded Kyo. Then he shook his head to himself. "Hn," he muttered. His response sent Kyo's temper right to the top. Before he could throw the first punch, Yuki held him back.

"Let me go, kuso nezumi," he snapped, struggling against Yuki's surprising firm grip.

"Hai, hai but before I do, let me inform you that there's someone approaching our classroom," his cousin said, calmly. "Have you ever wondered that it could be _our_ teacher?"

Just as he said that, their class teacher Ms. Mayuko entered. All of them returned to their seats, the new student temporarily forgotten until Ms. Mayuko brought him up when the class quieted.

"I know he's not really new here but I would like you to welcome him," she gestured the boy to come forward. "Please introduce yourself so your classmates could welcome you properly," she requested.

Feeling all the unwelcome eyes regarding him suspiciously, he stood. He did not even bother to walk to the front where the teacher had indicated. "Kotono Hikari," he said, monotonously. If he had not been rude to Tohru and Yuki earlier, everyone would have thought him to be shy and timid. His voice was so soft; it was a far cry from the cold tone he had used earlier.

Ms. Mayuko gestured, encouraging him to speak more about himself. But much to everyone's disgust, the boy sat back down, ignoring her attempts. Again, he kept his eyes firmly on the surface of his table.

Taking note of the slight chill in the atmosphere, Ms. Mayuko addressed the rest of the class. "Very well, let's continue where we left of."

VVVVVV

When the bell rang, everyone sighed, thanking whatever deities above that prevented their English teacher, Ms. Kaoru from going on and on. As they collected their things, the students talked among themselves, discussing their after-school activities.

Tohru watched Ms. Kaoru left the room, a smile of satisfaction etched on her pretty face. Although English will forever be one of her weaker subjects, she liked Ms. Kaoru's class. The young teacher loved to tell them stories of her experience while studying in England. The students always found her stories captivating, even more interesting than listening about grammatical rules and syntaxes.

Then Tohru's eyes landed on the table at the back of the classroom. She was disappointed to find the occupant gone. "He left," Hana answered her unspoken question. "He left the second the bell rang."

"Perhaps it's a mistake to give him a seat so close to the exit," Uo observed, joining them.

"I don't think anyone else care," Hana responded, looking at the other students who were completely oblivious to the fact. "The less he spends his time here, the better for everyone. At least, that's how I read the waves I'm receiving from everyone."

Tohru listened to the conversation, feeling a little downcast. After what happened to Kyou, she was more sensitive towards other people's feelings, especially those quiet ones. Actually, she had wanted to get to know the student more. She had tried searching for him during lunch but the boy seemed to have disappeared without a trace until it was almost time for the next class.

"Tohru," a voice brought her back to reality. She blinked only to see Uo leaning, staring at her face. Her eyes were serious. "Stay away from him," her friend warned her. "He's bad news."

Unable to respond to her friend's deep concern, she nodded. "Hai," she answered.

"Honda-san," a soft-spoken voice said from behind her. She turned to find Yuki, his bag slung over his shoulder. "I have a council meeting today," he said, regretfully. "So, I won't be able to walk home with you."

"Ah… who needs the pathetic nezumi anyway?" Kyo walked over to them. Without even looking at Yuki, he took her hand and pulled her away. "Come on. I'm hungry," he said, waving good bye at Uo and Hana.

Yuki watched Kyou and Tohru left together. His face softened as he saw the blush on Tohru's face. Beside him, Uo looked at Kyou and Tohru, then back at him, surprised. "He just insulted you. You're not going to fight back?" she asked before she could stop herself.

He looked at her, clearly surprised by her question. Then he smiled. "I just want to make sure Honda-san is fine. As for Kyo, I'll get back at him later." Uo and Hana watched as he left for the council meeting. Both were surprised to see the changes that had occurred between the three housemates.

VVVVVV

Yuki walked towards the council meeting room, feeling surprisingly at ease. He was glad that Kyou was there to escort Tohru home. After what had happened, he was a little more than concern over her welfare. Now that she finally shown a trace of her old self, Yuki was happy again.

"I will not abide to this!" an arguing voice, coming from the council office stopped him in his steps. "He has done nothing great to be rewarded with this opportunity."

A calm and cool voice answered the angry voice. "It's only a consideration. He's only one of the three qualified candidates."

"A consideration? It's an insult to even _think_ that Sohma is one of the candidates for presidency. It's an insult to even _put_ the circus master amongst the more qualified candidates like me."

"Takeshi-kun, believe me," the voice Yuki now identified to be the current student body president, Makoto Takei, said. "Yuki Sohma is as qualified as you and Midori Yamanaka. It's going to be a tough one for me but I only have the student body's best interest at heart."

"No, you only proved to me that you're just like everyone else, blinded by Yuki Sohma's _'sparkling'_ personality. Well, I'm not giving up. The presidency shall be mine even if I have to damage somebody to do it."

Suddenly, the door swung open. Yuki was startled to find himself staring at a pair of angry grey eyes. "Eavesdropping, Sohma?" the boy sneered. "That's very low." Then, he continued walking away, whispering only to Yuki's ears. "You're going down, teacher's pet."

Surprised by the loathing in his voice, Yuki was frozen. Aside from Kyou, he hadn't thought that there were others who hated him. He had sometimes thought all the affections to be a little stifling at times but happily received it anyway. So, he was surprised to find that there were people who envy the attention that was given to him.

"Yuki-kun?" Takei broke through his reverie. "Don't mind what Kudou-kun said. He was just upset." He changed the subject. "Come, we don't want to be late for the meeting." They walked to the meeting room in silence. Once there, Yuki noticed that the members were all there, including Takeshi Kudou who was sitting on the vice president's chair. The vice president ignored Yuki's presence, turning to talk to the vice secretary instead.

"If everyone's already settled down, we'll begin our meeting," the president cleared his throat, motioning Yuki to take his seat. Yuki sat as Takei begin by first validating the minute of the previous meeting. As he listened, Yuki kept his eyes on Kudou. Although the 2nd year student had not been the friendliest to him, he been civil enough with Yuki albeit some times, he had the tendency to over-criticize Yuki's every suggestion in the council meetings. Now that he knew exactly what the boy felt about him, it did not make Yuki feel any better.

"Right, let's go right to the main agenda," the president's voice cut through his thoughts, bringing Yuki to the present. "As we are all aware of, two days ago, six of our students have lost their homes due to a fire."

Yuki looked startled. No, he was not aware of _that_!

"So, we are going to organize a charity drive to help these students." The president looked at each of his members. "I need suggestions, people."

"What about selling cookies?" a girl suggested.

"Or chocolates?" another student interjected.

"A charity dance would be nice," a 3rd year student put in, while all the girls chattered excitedly about the suggestion.

"It's still too early for a dance," the president turned it down. "We need something that does not involve us using the money from the fund."

Takeshi spoke up. "What about a car wash? All of us take a weekend and wash cars for a certain payment."

The president considered. "Hmm… that could be possible."

Feeling the need to speak up, Yuki raised his hand. "What about a garage sale?"

"Hey, that's a great idea," a student cried excitedly. "My mom has always been meaning to throw away some stuff after that spring cleaning. Maybe she'll feel better if I sell them."

"Hey, me too. I got plenty of old manga collection to throw away."

The council members went on and on about the things they need to throw out. Everyone was talking at the same time. The president looked at Yuki, smiling. "A garage sale? I like that," he said. "If everyone has not any objections, we'll proceed with the sale."

Hearing the ominous 'hai', it was then decided. As they discussed the details, Yuki turned to look at Kudou.

His look was even more murderous than Kyou Sohma's.

VVVVVV

That evening, Yuki returned home to find Kyou banging on the tv set. "Kuso! I'm going to miss the tournament," he yelled, frustrated. He kicked the tv set again and the screen, which had been filled with statics winked and blanked.

"Now you've broken it for sure," Shigure whined as Kyou tried fruitlessly to get it back on. "I'm going to miss my soap opera."

"Quit whining! If you hadn't been so cheapskate, we could've had a better set," Kyou shouted, waving his fist at the novelist. Hearing the ruckus made Yuki's head started to ache.

"Sohma-kun, you're back!" Tohru greeted him. "How's the meeting?"

He smiled at her. "Um… it went well. We're organizing a garage sale for some unfortunate students." He sat down to explain. "Two days ago, a fire destroyed an apartment not far from the school. Apparently, some of our schoolmates lived there."

"I didn't know about that," Tohru said, surprised, looking at Kyou, who shrugged. He had not known either.

"Seems we're the only ones who didn't. The whole school knows," Yuki confirmed. "I guess we were a little out of it after everything…" he didn't continue, knowing that it was still a painful subject for Kyou and Tohru.

There was silence. "That's great!" Tohru responded, breaking the depressing moment with a delightful smile on her face. "I'm sure we have plenty of stuff to give away in the attic."

"Let's begin with this useless piece of junk," Kyou suggested, giving the tv another kick.

"Hey, hey, stop kicking it," Shigure protested. "I'll get it to the repair shop first thing tomorrow, okay?"

Kyou grunted, stepping outside to train. Yuki shook his head and headed for his room.

VVVVVV

So throughout the week, everyone was talking about the garage sale. By Friday evening, they had managed to gather many used things for the sale. Everyone was excited by it. All students, including the teachers, participated, all except one particular student who totally ignored the obvious excitement until…

Crash!

"You idiot!" a shrill voice drew everyone's attention to a group of girls crowding around a broken booth. "We spent hours decorating this booth!" Then the girl who had spoken fell to her knees, crying into her palms.

Kyo, who had been with some boys nailing up some booth, looked over and saw the girl's companions consoling their friend, throwing murderous looks at Kotono Hikari who stared down impassively back at them and the broken booth.

From the corner of his eyes, he also noticed Tohru staring sympathetically at them. She was about to walk over but was held back by her best friends.

"What the hell happened?" the voice of President Takei boomed, obviously attracted by the loud noise.

One of the girls straightened up. "It's his fault. He purposely broke our booth."

"Hikari-kun?" Takei turned to the guilty party. "I hope you have a very good explanation for this." He crossed his arms, raising his eyebrow challengingly. Hikari took in the older boy's posture, his fists clenching and unclenching but instead of answering, he turned in his heels and took off.

Takei sighed, shaking his head. "I don't understand why the principal hasn't kicked him out yet," he muttered then kneeling before the crying girl. "Akemi-san," he said, blushing a bit when the most beautiful girl in school looked up at him. "Don't worry, we'll have your booth fixed in no time."

He was surprised when he looked up to find all the male students in the vicinity had crowded around them, their eyes looking sympathetically at the crying girl. And seeing the eager crowd of males, she sniffed and smiled. "Thank you."

All the male students sighed.

VVVVVV

"And then he practically broke the booth just because it was in his way!" a first-year council member, Sakuya said. "At least that's how the story goes according to my classmates."

"That's terrible!" Midori, a 2nd year student, cried while they were busy tagging the sale items. "Why does he act as if the whole world is against him?"

3rd year student, Hotaru answered. "Ask Akemi-san. She seemed to know the guy. And it was _her_ booth that he demolished."

"You mean Yuri Akemi? The student he hit the other day?"

Hotaru nodded.

"I heard she was all bleeding and bruising after he was done with her!"

"What! Don't tell me he hit such a gorgeous girl so hard," Daisuke, the council treasurer, who had been working with Yuki at the other end of the room, interrupted.

"Damn right! She told me that she thought she was going to die. He was practically strangling her before the teachers broke them apart!"

"I swear I think the guy has something against her."

"Maybe at some point Akemi-san rejected his advances so now he's making her life hard."

"Yeesh! Talk about obsessive," Midori commented. "I mean, I understand that she's so beautiful and the boys are all head-over-heels for her but that doesn't mean he should be so vengeful to her for rejecting him. No one ever wants anything to do with him."

"Especially since Yuri Akemi is practically our school's goddess!" Daisuke interrupted again, his eyes dreamy. "Ahh… she is so beautiful." Then his eyes sparkled, his fist raised. "Never mind, from now on I will protect Akemi-san even if she refuse to go out with me."

Hotaru giggled. "You and the rest of the boys in school, Dai-kun. It seems every boy in school have taken a sentry duty around Akemi-san just in case Kotono acts up again, which everyone is certain he will."

"So why is he still _here_?" Yuki asked quietly, drawing all the attention. He closed the ledger book with a snap and stood. "If he is as dangerous and bad-to-the-bones as you say it, why hasn't the principal suspended him for attacking a fellow student?"

His questions drew on confused looks. "Uh…"

Shaking his head, Yuki handed the ledger back to the treasurer. "Daisuke-senpai. I think we're done for the day, don't you think?"

"Y…Yes," he agreed, then dismissing the other members. As Yuki was gathering his stuff, he went to him. "Uh… do you mind doing me a favor, Yuki-kun?"

"What is it, Daisuke-senpai?"

The curly-haired 3rd year student scratched under his chin. "Well, the thing is, I won't be here tomorrow because of a family emergency. I need someone to be in charge with the collection and Mokoto-kun seemed to think you're the appropriate person."

"I'll be delighted to."

VVVVVV

Yuki walked along the corridor, thinking over what was said about the newest addition to his class. Personally, he was anxious because of the feeling of dread that was slowly filling his heart. He had wanted to believe otherwise about Hikari Kotono, something told him that there was more than meets the eye but on the other hand, what happened to Yuri Akemi couldn't be ignored.

It was not like he really knew Akemi and Kotono so well to know the problem between them but something told him to hold off making conclusions and taking sides.

A crash was heard, coming from around the corner as someone hissed in pain. Yuki ran to see a girl on the floor, the items from the box that she was carrying lay strewn all over. "Are you alright?" he arrived, helping the girl picked up the items.

"Yes," she answered, looking up. Yuki found himself staring into a pair of beautiful baby blue eyes.

The owner of the eyes was equally beautiful. Her long red hair framed her heart-shaped and delicate face perfectly, her lips were red and full. She was tall and had a nice figure and her skin was fair and flawless.

Indeed, he was staring at a goddess.

"Akemi-san?" he found himself say, breaking his stare. The girl, Yuri, blushed and looked away as well. "Uh… you shouldn't be carrying these all by yourself. Why didn't you ask for assistance?" he asked.

One fact about Yuri Akemi. She was the only girl in school who has a group of female students privileged enough to follow her around. The group members were all as elegant as her. And they were all very highly regarded, both by students and teachers.

Another fact, since both Yuki and Yuri had fan clubs set up by their admirers; people often think that they should be a couple, much to the dismay of Prince Yuki's fan club members.

"Um…" she hesitated, her voice so sweet and soft. "The girls had their hands full so I thought I should get the box to the storage area alone."

"Here, let me help you," Yuki offered, hefting the box up. Together, they made their way towards the council room. But none of them noticed the curious eyes that were watching them.

VVVVVV

Hanajima Saki watched as the girls from the Princess Yuri's fan club left the shadow of their hiding place. The six of them were smiling and congratulating each other before leaving to follow the couple. A few seconds later, Hikari stepped out from his hiding place, crumpling a piece of decoration in his hand and threw it to the floor. He then spared a last look at where the others had gone before leaving towards the opposite side.

A rush of feelings tingled in her spine. She had seen the whole thing. "Interesting. Very, very interesting," she commented, leaving.

VVVVVV

The door chimed when Shigure entered the shop. A middle aged man in white tank top appeared from behind the counter, grinning. "May I help you?"

Shigure rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful and serious. "Well, it depends. Most of the repair shop I've visited today said that it was a lost cause. Then someone pointed out that this shop can repair almost anything, as long as it's broken."

"Yup, that's what people say." The shopkeeper nodded. Then he quickly added. "As long as they're not broken bones."

Shigure laughed. "Almost got you there, Nakajima-san."

"Still as sly as ever, Sohma-sensei." He then looked at Shigure almost appraisingly. "So, what did those boys of yours break this time?"

The younger man sighed. "The tv. My dear cousin Kyo broke it yesterday afternoon!"

"From the sour look on your face I say, you missed the opera, right?"

"Hai" he responded, sighing almost exaggeratedly. "I missed the part where Alberto confessed his love for his mother's aunt's second cousin's friend, the luscious Victoria!"

Mr. Nakajima grinned. "No worry, my boy will fix it in no time."

"Oh, he's here?" Shigure blinked, looking around the stuffed shop. "I'd like to meet the genius who has fixed all my stuff all these while."

"Nah, the boy's at school right now. He'll be coming over right after then. Maybe one of these days, you'll finally get to meet him. And don't worry about the tv. By tomorrow, he'll have it fixed."

"Thanks. You're a life saver, old man."

VVVVVV

The sale started and ended successfully. Almost all items were sold, thanks to the participation of the students, teachers and parents. By the evening, Yuki, Tohru, Kyou, Haru, Momiji, Hana and Uo found themselves helping out with the clean up.

"I'm so excited that I finally get to complete my favorite manga collection," Momiji said, as he sauntered off with a garbage bag.

"And I got this very lovely bracelet," Tohru looked at her new possession lovingly.

Kyou snorted. "And who could ever think that Saki could sell off that crystal ball of hers!"

"It was a thing teenagers are into these days," Hana responded, watching them working. "I only hope that the student wouldn't be visiting that magic shop downtown anytime soon."

The others froze. "Why did you say that?" Uo asked, curious.

The black-haired girl shrugged. "Oh, no particular reason."

But Yuki caught on pretty quickly. "Saki-san. How much did you sell the crystal ball?"

"A few hundred yen."

"And how much did the shop sell their crystal balls?"

"Maybe a few hundred less."

"What?" Kyou shouted. "Are you telling me that you purposely bought a crystal ball from a magic shop a few days before so that you could sell it for a few hundreds more for the sale?"

"Basically."

"This was a garage sale! You're supposed to sell _used_ things."

"Aww… shut up, Kyou-kun," Haru interrupted, tossing an item into a box. "You're starting to give me a headache."

"You want me to add to the pain?"

"Be my pleasure."

As the two started to bicker, Yuki picked up the box. "Well, these are the last ones. We'll return home after I keep these in the council room."

"Let us help you," Tohru volunteered, bending down to take the second box. Uo took the last one. After telling Momiji and Hana to look after Kyou and black Haru, the three of them walked back to the council room. By then, the school was empty, save for a few council members who were still cleaning up.

"Say, Prince. Heard you have a nice little encounter with the Princess Yuri?" Uo began, looking teasingly at the silver-haired Sohma.

Hearing that, Yuki was startled. He almost dropped the box. "Where did you…"

"Oh, come on. It was all over the school." She wriggled her eyebrow. "Well, did you ask her out yet?"

"Wh..what?" Yuki stammered. "I… I didn't..."

"Why not?" Tohru jumped in, staring innocently at him. This was the first time she heard about this though so she was excited to hear Yuki was attracted to someone as beautiful as Yuri Akemi. "She's so very beautiful like Sohma-kun. I think she's perfect for Sohma-kun."

Yuki's cheeks reddened and he had to look away. "I'm not interested in her."

"What?" Tohru let out, oblivious to the true meaning in his words

Uo considered for a moment. "Oh, now I remember. You like the innocent, clueless type." Yuki blushed some more.

"He does?" Tohru looked at her, still unable to figure it out.

"Let's just drop it, alright?" Yuki requested as they were nearing the council room.

"There you go," Tohru said, placing the box at the corner of the room. She wiped the bead of sweat on her forehead. "Whew, that was tiring." Yuki smiled at her, walking over to the locker.

"Can we leave now?" Uo asked dumping the box onto the floor.

"Wait a second," Yuki said, fishing out a set of keys to the locker. "I need to get the collection money so I could count them up at home. Besides, it's safer that way." He unlocked the locker and pulled it open. Suddenly, his pretty face paled.

Tohru came up to him. "Sohma-kun, what's wrong?"

He looked at her, horrified. "The money. It's gone!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**AN: **My first try at a Fruits Basket fic and already Yuki's in trouble. Right, now tell me whether or not I should continue this!!


	2. The Thief

**DISCLAIMER:** Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya, which is too bad since I couldn't make money with it .

**TIMELINE:** AU. This is strictly anime-verse. All events that took place in this story are right after the end of episode 26 of Fruits Basket. I'm going to disregard whatever happens in the manga since I have yet to complete my collection. Which means, the only Zodiac members Tohru have met would be Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, Hatori, Momiji, Haru, Kisa, Hiro, Kagura, Ayame, Ritsu. Rin and Kureno have not yet met her acquaintance.

**NOTE:** This is the first of my "Yoshimi no Nagano – Eternal Friendship" series (I don't know Japanese so I hope I'm getting it right) Right now, I'm concentrating on the friendship between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo so it's safe to say that she has not made any decision yet. Since I love experimenting Original Characters, so yes, this story will contain OCs. Cannon pairings or any sorts of pairings are up to you. So, enjoy!

**TO STAND ALONE II: THE THIEF**

By Arayelle Lynn.

"Humph… just like the nezumi to be so careless," Kyou remarked as Tohru finished relating the incident to Shigure. The four of them were having dinner. Yuki had eaten very little as guilt overrode his body's urge to fill up his empty stomach. He then had excused himself to go up early to his room. His behavior and Tohru's concern look had prompted Shigure to ask what happened.

"That's not true," Tohru was quick to defend Yuki. "Sohma-kun's the most careful person I've ever known." Hearing that, Kyou bristled but did not say anything to respond her statement. Tohru turned to where Yuki had gone to. "Maybe I should check up on him. See if he's alright."

"Leave him alone. He's a big boy now."

"But…"

"Dammit!" Kyou growled. "Don't you think that he's old enough to take the responsibility of his own error?" With that, Kyou stalked out of the room, most probably heading for the roof. Tohru stared after him, her eyes glistening in guilt.

Shigure watched the whole exchange in silent amusement. It was just so like Kyou to get all work up whenever Yuki unwittingly got Tohru riled up in worry. Seeing the tears in her eyes, Shigure decided that he needed to say something. "Kyou's right, you know." She turned to him. "Don't get so worried over Yuki. He'll pull through. He always does."

"But Kyou-kun…"

He waved her silent, winking. "Kyou's just upset that he's gonna miss his favorite show tonight."

**xxxXxxx**

Yuki could almost feel the stares burning into him as he informed the council members of the incident. The whole room went still and the silence was so thick that Yuki felt smothered by it. In his mind, he replayed the garage sale, hoping to find a clue or two on who had possibly taken the money.

It had taken him the whole evening just trying to sort out the incident. Luckily, Tohru, Haru, Momiji, Arisa, Hana and Kyou had been there to help search for clues. Though the others had been supportive, Kyou's comments burned his ears…

_"Stupid, stupid nezumi," Kyou grumbled, bending under a table. "Anyone should've known better than to entrust him with something of that importance." He was upset because he was tired and hungry but was stuck with helping Yuki._

_"Shh… he'll hear you," Uo shushed him, sparing a glance at Yuki who was examining the locker. "Nobody asks you to stay, alright? If you think you're wasting your time helping, you might as well go home."_

_"What? I'm not leaving Tohru with him after what happened," he growled. "Who knows what else he could have done wrong."_

_Uo clenched her jaw. "Carrot-head, if you don't keep your voice down now, I'll…"_

_"You'll what, Yankee?" he challenged._

_"He's right," a soft voice said, putting a stop to the fight. Kyo's jaw unwittingly dropped. The others, who had been listening silently, turned to Yuki who sighed dejectedly. "It's useless now. The money's gone and we can't spend the whole night looking for it. We're all tired and hungry and Honda-san will have to go to work soon."_

_Tohru actually glanced at the clock and jumped at the time._

_"Let's go home," he declared. "Thank you for your effort, everyone."_

_As they were gathering their things, Momiji walked over to Yuki. "Will you be okay?"_

_Yuki smiled, touched by his cousin's concern. "Yes, don't worry about it."_

_"Come on, Momiji. We can't be late," Haru said, pulling the usagi with him. He clapped the shocked neko's shoulder and gave a nod of reassurance to Yuki before going off._

_"Sohma-kun?" Tohru called him as she and the others made their way towards him. He gave her a smile before leading them outside and away from the school compound. They walked in silence until Uo's voice broke their thoughts._

_"Hey, isn't that the new guy? Whazisname?" They all turned to see a boy crossing the street._

"_That's Kotono Hikari-kun!" Tohru answered, recognizing the boy immediately._

_"Come to think of it, I didn't see him in school today," Uo commented, searching her memory. "Was he playing truant?"_

_"No, he was there," Yuki answered, watching the boy made his way towards the pharmacy. A man stopped him as he was about to enter. "But he wasn't at the sale though."_

_Hana nodded to herself, her eyes gone all strange. "I sensed strange waves coming from him. That boy hasn't been straight since day one." Hearing that, Kyo and Uo looked at her, curiously._

_"Um… you mean 'lying' straight or 'gay' straight? Uo asked, startling the others by her blunt question. Seeing their looks, she shrugged. "What? I was just wondering. The guy never checks girls out."_

_'I've heard differently,' Yuki was reminded of the conversation in the council room._

_Hana thought for a moment before answering. "Could be both." This shocked everyone. A mysterious smirk appeared at the corner of her lips as she continued. "But mostly that he's hiding something."_

_Uo squinted, leaning forward for a better look. Then she snapped her fingers. "Hey, I know that guy!"_

_"Who?"_

_"That guy! The man Kotono's talking to." They all turned to see their classmate talking to the man who stopped him. They seemed to be talking in low voices, with the man looking around him agitatedly._

_Uo frowned. "I saw that man hanging around with some of my gang member years before, selling drugs!"_

_"What!" the others chorused. "But what is Hikari-kun doing with someone like that?" Tohru wondered, deeply concerned._

_When they saw Hikari took out a wad of money from his pocket and pushed them towards the man, they could almost guessed what was going on. Kyo snorted. "What else could you be doing when dealing with a pusher?"_

"_Hey, you don't suppose he's the thief!" Uo suggested._

_That drew everyone's attention. They then recalled him holding a thick wad of money bills in his hands. "I mean, nobody saw him at the sale so it could be possible that he's been hiding around the council room waiting until Sohma came in with the money. When Sohma left, he picked the lock and stole the money!"_

_"But how can we be sure?" asked Hana, watching as Hikari walked into the pharmacy. To buy syringes, perhaps._

_Kyou cracked the bones in his fingers. "There's only one way left. We wait him out and beat the confession out of him."_

_"I'm with you," Uo seconded. "Hana can zap him if he refused to confess."_

_"Hold it," Yuki's quiet voice stopped them. "There's no proof that he took the money. And as much as I want this over with, we have to make sure by investigating more." Beside him, Tohru nodded. "Yes, Sohma-kun is right. Let's just not fight with him."_

_Kyou and Uo looked at her then back at Yuki before exchanging glances with each other. Then, Uo ruffled Tohru's hair affectionately. "Oh, you two are so so sooo… nice, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside." Seeing the smile Tohru exchanged with Yuki, Kyou growled. "Fine! Like it's any of my business. Why do I want to spare the nezumi the wrath of the council members?"_

That had been two days ago. As soon as he had gotten back, Yuki had informed president Takei of the incident. The older boy had been very shocked but he had said nothing that place the blame on Yuki but the nezumi could not help from being guilty. Now, today he faced the rest of the council member.

A snicker broke the silence. "Are you telling me that the great Prince Yuki lost the money that was entrusted to him?" Takeshi Kudou voiced out from his seat. He smirked. "Am I really looking at the famous, ever-perfect _Prince_ Yuki?" he snorted at the last words.

"Takeshi," President Takei warned.

But the 2nd year was too riled up. "What? It's okay for _His Highness_ to lose all the money we worked hard for the whole week?" Yuki cringed at the bite in his words. Then, he felt someone grabbed the front of his uniform as he met a pair of angry grey eyes. "How could you have lost it?! He shoved Yuki back as others raised to their feet to stop the coming fight. "Answer me, pretty boy!"

"Takeshi, calm down," Takei said, holding the angry boy back. "It was an accident. It isn't his fault."

Takeshi laughed bitterly. "An accident? A car hitting a little girl on the pedestrian walk is an accident. A man falling down the roof while fixing his antennae is an accident." He gestured at Yuki, who was on floor. "A supposedly responsible and trustworthy student losing a large sum of money for charity is downright _disastrous_!" He faced Takei. "Are you still so sure he can take over your job and not mess up again?"

"Look, we're all upset," Takei began. "But the most important thing of all is not to blame anyone but to find the one responsible for the crime." Takeshi looked incredulously at him then at the rest of the council members. Instead of feeling betrayed, all of them were rather sympathetic. They instinctively were standing between Takeshi and Yuki, as if to protect the silver-haired boy.

Anger boiling, Takeshi shoved Takei out of his way and stalked out of the room. For a moment, there was a shocked silence. "As I was saying," Takei cleared his throat, gathering their attention. "We need to find out who took the money."

"Wait a minute!" a third year student drew their attention. "I remembered seeing that boy, whazisname, loitering around the corridor near the council room."

Hatoru snapped her fingers. "That's right. I saw Hikari Kotono near the room too though it never occurred to me to ask why." She looked at the others. "Did anybody else saw him?" As a response, several nodded their heads while a few more said that they actually saw Hikari gone in and out of the room.

Then, everyone started to talk all at once. It took Takei all his power to calm them down. "Alright, alright, let's not jump into conclusions. Perhaps he was just helping out, we don't know. But Sohma and I will be investigating this matter so if any of you has other information, please see us. Otherwise, I would like you all to keep this a secret for the time being." He halted the protests with a wave. "We don't want to be spooking the thief now, do we?"

**xxxXxxx**

Takei did not get what he wished. For, on the second day of school that week, the news that the money was stolen and who might have stolen it was made public to all. Takei had balked when the second he stepped into the school compound; his schoolmates converged on him, asking for a confirmation. He had tried to figure out who in the council would have spread the new but came out with zero.

Class 2 – D was noisier than usual. Students from all over the school had come to see Yuki, inquiring, sympathizing and offering assistance, which included beating a certain someone to confession. The silver-haired Sohma tried to ward off the attention, reassuring everyone that he and Takei had everything under control. But still, more people came, students and teachers alike, and all asking the same thing, regardless of how many times he had repeat his answers.

Still, the money was not found.

And the culprit still walked along the corridors as if nothing happened.

This made the students even more infuriated than usual.

**xxxXxxx**

Throughout the whole week, Tohru could not help herself from staring at Hikari. As usual, the boy was ignoring everyone around him including the teacher who was teaching in front of the class. Tohru noticed that he would usually stare at the blackboard, with a bored look on his face. Occasionally, he would be scribbling away on his textbook, most probably drawing doodles and such, before being asked by a teacher to answer some questions just to rope him back into the lesson. But even then he had answered them lazily and got them mostly wrong, before continuing with his scribbling.

Again, Tohru asked herself why, of all people, Hikari Kotono appealed to her. Although Tohru would have most probably run into her before this, from the moment she saw him in _her_ classroom, Tohru had felt a certain attraction to him. She felt as if her heart was reaching out to him and that she could not do anything to stop it.

Not that Hikari Kotono was particularly good-looking. In fact, he was typical-looking. His face was drawn and pale. His red thin lips uttered fewer words, mostly when it was necessary and never stretched into a smile. His unruly light brown hair was a tad bit long than what was allowed and fell onto his face, hiding his expression most effectively. Of all, only his beautiful emerald green eyes were worth staring at, that was, if only he had not had it hidden behind his bangs.

Suddenly, Tohru noticed the emerald eyes glared angrily at hers. Blinking, Tohru turned away, her heart beating since she had been caught staring. She counted to ten before glancing back and to her relief; Hikari had returned his attention back to the book that he had been reading.

Tohru let out a sigh of relief. Then, the bell rang for lunch. The teacher left the room as the students stretched and giggled amongst each other. A conversation to her right caught her attention. She looked and saw a few students converging yet again on Yuki.

"Have you caught the thief yet?"

"Is it true that Hikari-kun did it?"

"How did he do it? I heard he rob you with a knife?"

"What? Did he hurt you?"

"What about the investigation? Are you making any progress?

"Let's just corner the guy and be done with it."

While all the same old questions were being fired, their eyes were staring accusingly at the person in question. For his part, Hikari did not show as if he heard anything. He continued reading.

"Yuki-kun!" a voice from the doorway interrupted what Yuki was about to say. They turned to see Yuri Akemi looking worriedly at him. She had been one of the first female students who had gone see Yuki when she heard of the news. And she had been ever so concerned since. "Have you caught the thief yet? Has the baka confessed?" she asked, not bother to lower down her voice.

Yuki calmed everyone down. "Everything's under control. Takei-senpai and I are still investigating. We're making a little progress as it is, so don't worry."

Yuri took Yuki's hand in hers. "If you ask it, I can help you." Her eyes narrowed angrily at the silent boy sitting at the back of the class. "My father can have _him_ kicked out of the school in no time. Our school hardly needs a useless trash like him."

Hearing that, Hikari closed the thick book with a snap, making everyone jumped. Without even looking at their way, he walked over to the back exit and left. Tohru immediately went to the other door to keep her eyes on him. She saw him breathed as he closed the door behind him. He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned against the door as if feeling relieved to be able to escape the stifling room.

Then he opened his eyes. Tohru was surprised to find Hikari paled considerably. She saw him staring at a few students who were chatting away along the corridor. And seeing him there, the students toned down into whispers but all the while glancing at him. Even the ones walking by spared him an accusing look.

So Hikari walked away, keeping his head low until his hair covered most of his face. It was the same posture Tohru had seen him wore when walking within the school compound. She followed him slowly, noticing more students giving him the same accusing look as he made his way outside the building. The whispers reached her ears, surprising her with the amount of hate and disgust that seeped through the voices.

"_Look at him. He doesn't even have the decency to care about what he has done!"_

"_What more can you expect from a low life like him?"_

"_I heard he's a junkie."_

"_He must've been. Just look at how he dressed! It's as if he found the school uniform from the trash cans."_

"_And his hair! It's like he asked his little sister to cut it for him."_

"_Argh! It makes me sick just looking at him."_

"_Yeah, how could he have done that to someone as nice as Yuki?"_

"_If it wasn't for Yuki Sohma, I would've walk up to him right now and give him a piece of my mind."_

Things were so intense that the short walk actually unnerved her. Tohru couldn't understand how Hikari could be so nonchalant about all of it but it seemed as if he was used to it. He continued down the corridor and out of the school building as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed her. Tohru bit back a gasp as she was slammed onto a wall as hands grasped her arms. An angry voice shouted at her face. "Why are you following me?"

**xxxXxxx**

Kyou had seen Tohru staring at the boy all week. Her interest in the boy continued to surprise and irritate him that Kyou realized that if another person had been watching _him_, they would have said that he was jealous.

Indeed he was! He admitted it. What so special about the skinny guy who thought he was better than the rest of the world? What was beyond his pathetic half-hidden face and his unkempt appearance? To Kyou, he was just a brooding idiot who would use someone innocent like Tohru to gain sympathy. Hell, he was even more pitiful than the nezumi.

That thought alone made him bristled. A light chuckle to his left drew his attention. He looked over and saw the Yankee and Wave Girl observing him amusingly. He scowled at them, turning his attention back to Tohru only to see that she had disappeared.

And so was Hikari!

"Kuso!" he growled, jumping to his feet. He ran to the exit, scanning for the familiar dark brown hair along the corridor but found Tohru gone. So, he ran down the stairs, all the while cursing himself for losing her trail and the nezumi for existing. But most of all, he cursed the new guy for stealing Tohru from him.

Huh, stealing Tohru from him?

When Kyou felt his cheeks burned, he ran even quicker as if speed could discard that little slip. But as he reached outside, he twisted around to the back of the building just in time to see an arm grabbing an unsuspecting Tohru just around a corner. He heard a shout and a whimper, which made his temper boil.

Without realizing what he was doing, Kyou reached the spot, grabbed an arm that surprisingly felt like a stick and threw a mighty punch.

**xxxXxxx**

Before Tohru could explain, she felt the pressure was lifted off of her. She stared in shock as Yuki yanked Hikari away from her. She was even more shocked when Kyou appeared out of nowhere, just like his cousin, and threw a hard punch across Hikari's jaw.

The momentum of Yuki's yank and Kyou's punch sent the boy crashing hard onto the ground. For a moment the boy laid there unmoving until he coughed and wiped off something warm which trickled down his jaw. Seeing the blood, he glared up at Kyou and Yuki. "Why did you attack me for?" he demanded, his emerald eyes flashing angrily.

"Why did you attack Honda-san?" Yuki asked calmly, standing between his cousin and the boy on the ground to keep the fight from escalating. Kyou took a double take, surprised to find the nezumi there.

The boy picked himself up from the ground, dusting his pants. "I was just asking why she was following me. Was that a crime?"

Kyou lunged but was held back by Yuki. "No, but stealing is. What did you do with the money, huh? Was it fun to take from the needy? Have you no compassion? Is it fun to oppress those weaker than you?"

The boy gave him an indifferent look.

"Kuso! Stop acting as if you aren't involved. Admit it. You did take the money, didn't you? Many people saw you near the room. What? So you just waited until the stupid nezumi entered the room with the money? Then what? You waited until he left and pick the lock," he spat, glaring at the boy. "Not only did you steal the money, now you're bullying an innocent girl? How very manly of you." He lunged again but this time Tohru pulled him back. Seeing the fear in her eyes, Kyou forced himself to calm down.

The boy before them listened to Kyou's accusations quietly. Now that he was finished, Hikari asked them a very surprising question. "Is that what _you_ believe?" He looked at Yuki, then Tohru. His normally pale face turned red. "Is _that_ what all of you believe?" They did not answer, surprised by the amount of anger on his face as his body shook from a barely controlled rage. His fists clenched as he yelled. "I DID NOT STEAL THE MONEY!" He broke off but was too riled up to stop. "SO DON'T GO AROUND ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING I DIDN'T DO!"

Then he calmed, turning away. Tohru, Yuki and Kyou watched as he ran a shaky hand through his unkempt hair, chuckling bitterly to himself. "This is _so_ disappointing. I thought you, of all, would have understood," he said to no one in particular. He drew a deep breath before looking up again. This time, he regarded Yuki. "I am not your thief. But if you badly want to catch your thief, you should check out Taichi Hikawa from my old class. He was the reason I was there in the first place." With that, he took off, heading away from the school compound.

**xxxXxxx**

'Taichi Hikawa,' Yuki thought as he watched the green-haired student chatting with a 1st year female student. After what had transpired, he had gone to see Takei to inform him of what he had just learned from Kotono. The president had listened carefully and had given careful consideration over Kotono's claim. They had discussed their next course of action since they had two suspects. In the end, they agreed that they should keep a close eye on Hikawa for the rest of the school hour since their prime suspect had ran off to the unknown. However, before he had left to find Hikawa, Takei warned him that Kotono might be trying to throw them off track.

But Yuki found himself wanting to believe Kotono. There was something… something he could not recognized in the boy's eyes that told him that Kotono had not done it. Or was it maybe the fact that Tohru had passionately argued in Kotono's defense the second he, Kyou and her had recovered from their encounter.

Whatever it was, Yuki was determined to find out the truth. He was not willing to condemn an innocent for another's crime.

And that was brought him there, carefully spying on the 2nd year student's movement. For now, he had not done anything. Hikawa was going about the same routine as any other normal male students. Gone to class, help out some teachers in need of heavy lifting, chat with friends, and flirt with every girl he met on his way…

That was until the bell rang and he opened his locker to collect his things. Yuki had to bit back a gasp when he saw a roll of money fell from the locker and dropped to the ground. Hikawa instinctively dove to the floor to pick it up. As he pocketed the money, he looked around him.

His dark brown eyes met amethyst ones. He paled considerably.

"Yuki-kun, h…how long have you been standing there?" he stammered, backing away only to hit the locker behind him. Another roll of money fell from the stuffed locker and landed on his shoes. Hikawa winced, seeing the money and the betrayed look on Yuki's face.

"Look, man. I… I can explain. I didn't know how it got there," he struggled to find a valid reason. Then an inspiration hit him. "It must've been that Kotono guy. He must've planted the money there to frame me!"

Yuki stared at him, shaking his head sadly. His response made Hikawa even more uncomfortable. "That's enough, Hikawa-kun. It's bad enough you stole from Yuki-kun, now you're lying to him as well?" They both turned to see Takei walking towards them. He stopped just in front of the locker, noticing the hallway being slowly filled by students. "Let's go to somewhere private," he said, quietly. Then, he gave Hikawa a pointed look. "Please bring the rest of the money with you."

Takei led them back to the council room. It had been a trying journey for the three boys, especially the green-haired youth. He kept glancing at Yuki's hurtful face, feeling guilty and rotten all at the some time. He had expected Yuki to charge angrily at him but the look of open disappointment on his face, not only caught him off guard but tore at him even more.

Takei made sure the room was empty before closing the door and locking it. He was just turning to face the two when suddenly Hikawa dropped to his knees. "I am so sorry, Yuki-kun, Takei-senpai. I didn't mean to. I'll never do it again. Please don't report me to the principle. My mom will kill me!" he begged. It was obvious that he had never done this before.

Takei sighed, massaging his pounding head. "Like I could. The principle is still on vacation and the vice principle would likely kill all three of us for losing the money," he muttered to himself. "Look, the important thing is, we got the money back." He paused. "You didn't spend any of it, did you?"

Hikawa shook his head vigorously. "I was going to but my stomach kept feeling funny." He turned to Yuki. "I only wanted to pay my tuition fees. My tuition teacher had been threatening to kick me out of the class unless I pay but the money my mother gave me is gone." The look in his eyes pleaded for Yuki's understanding.

"Was it stolen?" Yuki finally responded, sympathetically.

"Um…" Hikawa hesitated. Then he scratched his head sheepishly. "Actually, I 'accidentally' spent all of it on my Gundam modeling kit." He nodded enthusiastically. "You should see them. They're new models!"

Before Hikawa could finish his sentence, Yuki stomped over to the door and slammed it close, leaving Takei to deal with their culprit.

**xxxXxxx**

"So, the thief is caught?" Uo prompted, rocking the chair back and fourth.

Yuki nodded. They were all gathered in the classroom the next morning. The news had traveled fast. He barely even find time to tell Tohru what had transpired yesterday, since she had already left for work when he got back home and in the morning found them rushing to school. But the second he stepped into the school yard, everyone was asking the same question.

"And the money is all accounted for?"

Another nod.

"So, who was it?" Uo asked, almost off-handedly. "Was it _him_?"

The other students leaned nearer. Although the news of the capture was made public, no one knew the identity of the thief. Yuki sighed. He was afraid that people would be bugging him with the same question from then onwards. "No, it wasn't Kotono, if _that's_ who you're referring to," he said, glancing guiltily at the empty table at the end of the classroom. "And Takei-senpai and I have decided to keep the thief's identity a secret until we were told otherwise," he responded, earning loud groans from his curious listeners.

"I'm sorry but Michiru-sensei requested our silence until the case is brought over to the principle's attention." He was interrupted when a voice barked from the doorway. "What are you doing standing around for? Return to your seats!"

The students quickly scrambled to their seats. Yuki sighed, thanking the lord that it was over. No, it was not over. There was still something he had to do. He glanced again at the empty seat at the back, wondering when the occupant will show up.

**xxxXxxx**

Hikari Kotono failed to show up at school that day. And the day after. When the bell ended the school hour for that week, Yuki found himself glancing over the empty seat, wondering just why his new classmate was absent. Was he _that_ affected by their argument the other day?

Hearing an audible sigh from his right, Yuki turned only to see Tohru staring longingly at the missing boy's seat. Although Yuki could not understand and was not entirely pleased by her sudden interest of the boy, he understood enough to know that she felt guilty over their argument and was concerned for him. And personally, Yuki would've taken Tohru to Hikari's house just to ease her worry but as it stood, none of the students knew where the boy was living.

So, he opted for the only thing. "Honda-san?" he called her with a smile. A pair of innocent brown eyes stared up at him. "Would you like to help me out in the garden when we get back? I still need to plant the new patch of strawberries."

The eyes lit up. Tohru's face beamed delightfully. "Of course! I have the night off and I'm happy to help you out, Sohma-kun."

And for a while, Tohru forgot all about their missing classmate.

**xxxXxxx**

"Sohma-sensei, welcome!" was the greeting as soon as Shigure entered the shop.

"Nakajima-san, what happened? I thought you said the tv will be fixed days ago?"

The heavyset middle-aged man scratched his almost bald head. "Eh? I guess by the looks of you, you've missed more than the soap opera, huh?" He added. "That cousin of yours is throwing tantrums again?"

The younger man nodded. "Yes, yes. He missed the whole tournament. Now I have to find someone who can fix the door," he whined.

Nakajima shook his head. "I don't know what you're raising in your house but it sounds to me that it is better for you to keep a pet cat instead."

"A pet cat?" Shigure laughed, heartily. "Trust me, Nakajima-san. It does not help my house at all. And a pet mouse too," he added in afterthought.

"What about a wife?" Nakajima tried, wriggling his eyebrows teasingly.

Shigure smiled sweetly at him. "Do you have any recommendations?"

The older man considered, looking him over. Shigure Sohma was a handsome man, tall and lean with all the money that he could spend. In fact, he was every girl dream guy. But his state of mind… left much to be desired. So, he shook his head. "No girl with a right mind would marry you, Sohma-sensei."

Shigure laughed out loud. "True, true," he said, catching his breath. "By the way, what happened really? I waited for you to call so I could collect the tv but you never did."

"Hai, gomen ne. It looks like the damage was even more serious than I thought," the shop owner apologized. "You burned a few wirings and blew a couple of components. I was about to declare it a lost cause but my boy told me that it was still fixable. He's working on it right now."

"Oh, he's here?"

"Yup, you're in luck," Mr. Nakajima winked. "Hey, kid! Come up here a minute. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

A skinny, frail-looking boy came out from the room behind the counter. "Sohma-sensei, meet Kotono Hikari, the reason why my business seemed to be holding out as long as it has."

The boy looked up to Shigure's face, his eyes indifferent. "Pleasure," he said, and then he returned to the room without waiting for Shigure's response. The dark-haired man stared blinkingly at the retreating figure.

"Don't mind him," Mr. Nakajima said. "He's a little shy but he's a good kid."

"Actually, he reminded me of someone back home," Shigure put in, grinning. "Oh, well, look at the time. I must be going off."

"And don't worry about the tv. We'll have it fixed soon."

**xxxXxxx**

The weekend went by like any other. Having spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday morning at the garden, Yuki and Tohru managed to plant all the strawberry patch and cleaned the garden as well. Kyou had left the house early that morning, without informing anyone where he was going. And he did not showed up until late that evening.

Tohru was just serving some tea when Kyou walked into the living room. His face flushed and his amber eyes glittering. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Oh, Kyou-kun. Welcome back," Tohru greeted him. She took another cup and poured the tea for him.

"You looked like you've swallowed a mouse," Shigure commented.

"Can't be, Shigure. He is so bad at catching them, the mouse would probably die laughing first," Yuki responded, sipping his tea.

Kyou spared a glance at him. "Say what you want to say, kuso nezumi. I'm not letting you spoil my mood."

"Did something good happen to you today, Kyou-kun?" Tohru inquired, sitting down.

"Sure is," Kyou responded, turning to her. He could not contain excitement any longer. "Shishou asked me to help him teach his beginner classes. I'm starting next week. Isn't it wonderful?"

"It's a wonderful news, Kyou-kun," she clapped her hands pleasingly. "We should celebrate." She thought for a moment before snapping her fingers. "I know! Today I'll cook some salmon. Wonder what I can make with a salmon…" she began to wonder, rising to her feet.

She yelped when Kyou pulled her down. "Oi, sit and finish your tea first, baka," Kyou admonished her. "Dinner's a few hours away and you have plenty of time to think later."

"Can I come?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh?" he stared at her, uncomprehendingly. "Come where?"

"To Shishou-san's dojo. I want to see Kyou-kun teach."

Kyou blushed. The thought of Tohru seeing him teach his first class was…

"I won't be in the way. I just want to see Kyou-kun teach. I never see Kyou-kun teach anyone before. And I think it is an exciting thing to watch," she said quickly, thinking that he was about to say no.

Kyou flushed even redder at her enthusiasm. Of course it would make him happy to have her see him in action. Usually, she would be seeing him being thrown by Yuki whenever he lost a fight. But if she came, she will see him throwing someone _else_ for a change. The word 'yes' was just rolling on his lips when his amber eyes met a pair of cool amethyst eyes.

"No," he said, surprising even himself. "You'll only distract me."

His heart made a flop on the floor when he saw the disappointment in her eyes. Instantly, he began to hate himself and of course Yuki for ruining his mood. The said person stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Before he left, Yuki muttered 'Baka neko' to the stunned boy. Chuckling to himself, Shigure stood as well, saying something about having to finish his last chapter and was gone.

Then there were only Kyou and Tohru left. The girl kept her head down, sipping the tea in silence. Unable to suffer the cold draft any longer, he began, "Oi, if it means to you that much," he said. Tohru looked up at him expectantly "I don't really mind if you're there. In fact, maybe you'll learn a few moves."

The smile that broke on her lips brightened his day even more.

**xxxXxxx**

When they opened the door to the classroom that day, they were delighted to see Hikari sitting in his place, reading yet another book. As Kyou and Yuki walked over to their respective seats to drop their stuff, Tohru made her way straight to the boy.

"Good morning, Hikari-kun. How are you today?"

Instead of looking up, he kept his head even lower, all the while muttering, "Why should you care?" This ire Kyo so much that he found himself stalking his way to the back of the class. But before he could say his piece, Yuki shoved him out of the way.

"Kotono-san, thank you," he said, bowing in appreciation. This startled the new boy so finally he looked up. "If it weren't for your help, we wouldn't be able to catch the thief. And I would like to apologize for the other day," Yuki was saying as he straightened up.

He gasped.

Realizing that he was discovered, Hikari futilely looked away, obscuring their view of the barely healing purple and yellow bruise which decorated the side of his face, just above his lips. But Yuki, Tohru and Kyo had already seen it. They watched in shocked silence as Hikari pulled his hair to cover up the part.

Yuki and Kyo exchanged glances. They felt bad for roughing up the boy. As they remembered, the boy had not even thrown a single punch, indicating that he had not meant to hurt Tohru at all.

Was that why he was not at school for two days? The two boys wondered, guiltily.

"If that is all, I would like to go back to my reading, please?" a voice broke their thoughts. Hikari looked up at them, challengingly. He was already fingering the next page.

"Um… sorry," Yuki said, wincing how lame that sounded. Hikari shrugged his acceptance before going back to his reading. Sensing that they were being dismissed, Yuki, Tohru and Kyou returned to their seats. By then, their other classmates were already filling the classroom. Tohru smiled in delight when she heard Uo and Hana called for him. Yuki turned when the class assistant called him up. And as Kyou sank onto his seat, he remembered what they all saw that night.

What was Hikari Kotono doing talking to a drug pusher?

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**A/N:** I would like to thank **Carpe.Deum** and **Sela-vie008** for the review. Don't forget to review again because I need to know what you think so I could improve the fic.

Next update for "To Stand Alone" is some time in August (I hope)


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